City Hall: Board hears pitch for Stebbins Center
January 10th, 2025
Paul Feely, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
Jan. 10—Manchester Planning Board members could vote Jan. 16 on an application submitted to build the Mark Stebbins Community Center on the city's West Side, following a public hearing on the matter earlier this month.
The Stebbins Center, a 501(c)(3) charity, is proposing to build a nearly 20,000-square-foot multipurpose social services center and community center with a corresponding playground and parking lot on the Kelley Falls apartment complex property at 315 Kimball St. owned by the Manchester Housing & Redevelopment Authority.
Once constructed, the building will be home to several nonprofit organizations that will provide social and community services under one roof.
The two-story facility would include spaces for youth and child services, meeting rooms, a food pantry, and an outpatient health clinic.
Jeanine Tousignant serves as the project facilitator of the proposed center.
"We will be a multi-tenant nonprofit center providing collaborative services under one roof in an accessible central location for children and families on the West Side of Manchester," Tousignant told planning board members earlier this month.
"As we all know, the West Side has some of the highest needs in the city, with the least amount of services they have, a lack of transportation. The West Side has also been documented as a food desert. The center's goal is to bring nonprofit services together in one central location."
Planning for the center began in November 2021, Tousignant said, involving community leaders, nonprofits and West Side residents.
Hours of operation for the center would be from Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with hours extended occasionally to 8:30 p.m. to serve community needs.
No public funding is being sought for the project.
Tousignant said organizers hope to start construction this spring, with a goal of opening the center in the fall of 2026.
"This project will be beneficial to the neighborhood and community as it will be a beacon of hope, providing children and families with much-needed access to resources and services and a welcoming community based setting now and for generations to come," Tousignant said.
Alderman Dan O'Neil sent a letter in support of the project, saying there aren't many locations that could accommodate "a building of this size with room for a soccer field, basketball court, play area, and parking."
"I see this proposed community center as an important asset for the community," O'Neil writes.
Back in May, the New Hampshire Executive Council approved $1 million in funding to help cover costs associated with construction, anticipated to begin in the spring of 2025.
The center, in the planning stages for years, would be named after Mark Stebbins, CEO of the state's largest architectural construction firm, who died in 2021 at 67.
After several months of reviewing options and exploring possible sites, representatives from the Stebbins Center and the Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Authority signed a 75-year lease to locate the facility at the Kelley Falls housing community on Kimball Street.
Kelley Falls is a 132-unit low-income apartment complex. Some or all apartments in the complex are rent-subsidized, which means rent is income-based.
The housing authority owns the land and has agreed to lease the land to the community center for what organizers have termed a "nominal amount." The Stebbins Center will raise the funds and build the facility.
Organizers say the Boys & Girls Club and Amoskeag Health will provide services for youths and families through the new center. Services will include affordable, walkable child care, after-school care, access to affordable health care, community meeting space and additional support services.
The 2.5-acre lease area is within a currently vacant portion of the larger, 19.6-acre property. There are 19 multi-family apartment buildings on the site.
